The present invention relates to firearms, and more particularly to a firearm sight configurable in deployed and stowed positions.
Firearms can come in various shapes and sizes, and can be configured in various ways for different purposes. Many firearms are outfitted with a primary sighting system to assist a user in aligning the barrel of the firearm with a target so that a bullet fired from the firearm has a high probability of impacting the target at a desired location. Sometimes, a firearm is set up with a primary sighting system consisting of rudimentary fixed position iron sights, which include a rear sight at the rear of the firearm and a front sight over the barrel of the firearm near its muzzle. This system is configured so that the user can align the front and rear sights with one another and a target to aim the firearm. In other cases, the firearm can be outfitted with an optical sight to be used as a primary sighting system. The optical sight can provide magnification to assist a user in aligning the firearm with a target at significant distances.
Until recently, the above systems typically were mutually exclusive, that is, firearms and other weapons were set up with either the iron sights or an optical sight as the primary sight system. The main reason for this was because the two systems usually occupied the same location of the rifle, that is, the top of the firearm. This prevented both from being used simultaneously or under different circumstances because one system would obstruct the other. This mutual location and obstruction issue was addressed with the advent of the 45° offset iron sight. This sight offsets the sights 45° relative to the top of the rifle. With this construction, the iron sight is set off to the side of the top of the rifle. Thus, an optical sight can be placed on the top of the firearm and secondary or back-up offset iron sights can be offset to the side of the optical sight. A user can then selectively utilize either the optical sight or the iron sights on the firearm. For example, the user can hold the firearm upright and use the optical sight to view and engage a target at a long distance. When the user encounters another target at a close distance, and does not desire or need the magnification of the optical sight, the user can rotate the firearm 45°, align the offset iron sights with the target, and engage it.
While dedicated 45° offset sights enable the use of optical sights and iron sights, they suffer some shortcomings. For example, some of these sights are permanently fixed in an upright position. In this case, the optical sight projects up from the top of the firearm, and the offset sights project from the side of the firearm. With all these elements protruding from the firearm in different locations, the likelihood of the firearm snagging or catching clothing, other gear or structures increases. This can be disadvantageous in shooting competitions, training and firefights. Others of these offset sights come in a folding configuration so that the iron sights easily pivot about an axis from the upright position to a down position and vice versa. While helpful in some situations to prevent snagging, these folding sights can become inadvertently folded to the down position, which can be disadvantageous if the user needs the sight upright and it is not there during target engagement.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement in the field of offset sights configured for firearms.